Deals on the Green

Deals on the Green is not about how to do business on a golf course, or, as its subtitle might suggest, a collection of stories about big
deals that were done after holing out of a bunker. This book, from an author with a resume that stretches from Wall Street to Golf Digest, exemplifies what golf and business are to each other, builders of relationships.

Rynecki’s magic moment, where golf and business were inexorably wed in his mind, came in a chance discussion with Charles Schwab following an extremely dull interview session, when Rynecki
mentioned his love of Cypress Point to Schwab, knowing the investment guru was a member. Immediately, Schwab excitedly opened up to the author, first about golf, then about same business topic that had been so dry just moments
before. Golf had created a relationship that lives to this day.

Deals on the Green provides a view from, and some might say a character check of, business leaders like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, great sales people and managers, and even golf people you don’t think of as businessmen, like architect Tom Fazio and PGA TOUR pro Joe Ogilvie. All provide different perspectives on the game as a business tool, which isn’t so much about how skilled you play, as it is how you act, and react, to the ever-changing dynamics of the game.

“No matter how sophisticated the tools become – the e-mails and teleconferencing, the BlackBerries and PowerPoints – golf remains the true communications hub of American business. It
is the great and peaceful forum where movers and shakers can meet, up-andcomers can impress their bosses, and major players can seal monster deals. It is the place where there is no need for a personality test, because golf brings out a
person’s true character.”

Two tips from Deals on the Green? You never know when your caddie might be the next Jack Welch. And if you want to play Augusta or Pine Valley?
Don’t ask!